


This Little Space In Between

by tafih



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 14:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7225420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tafih/pseuds/tafih
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick is a travel writer with wanderlust. Judy is a country girl who thirsts for adventure. Nick meets Judy on a train heading into the heart of the Mediterranean and decides to forego his own plans to spend an evening with her. Judy decides to let him. Together, they explore that little space in between.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Little Space In Between

**“This Little Space In Between”** – _Before Sunrise_ AU

* * *

Nicholas Wilde was a travel writer. His entire person thrived off of an idealized sense of adventure, of being in new places nearly every night. His typical week would consist of sleeping in hostels, walking down thin and bustling market streets, stealing food, writing a few paragraphs in his over-priced purposefully hipster leather-bound journal, and contacting his publisher over spotty Wi-Fi, then finding a menial job or conning both tourists and locals to eventually earn enough money to pay for a plane or train ticket to go to the next place. Usually, he would have been to twelve cities in the past ten days, but such a schedule never tired him. Rather, it gave him life.

Judy Hopps was a college student. She never left her hometown of Bunnyburrow, a sweet Americana town 211 miles away from Zootopia, unless to attend school, which was _in_ Zootopia. And despite Zootopia being the largest and most diverse city of the continent, and probably of the world, she felt as though she fulfilled every assumption and stereotype that went along with being a sheltered girl from the countryside. Her typical week consisted of sleeping in her own cozy bedroom among her thousands of stuffed animals, reading a novel, listening to Top 40 music, occasionally painting a nondescript landscape, then finding herself wondering about all the ‘what ifs’ that would never be realized. So she set off to fulfill another stereotype of her kind and decided to explore the world for one summer and find her roots. And it gave her life.

* * *

 On June 16th, Nicholas Wilde met Judy Hopps on a train on its way to Zoccolo, a Mediterranean city of ancient history, art and culture.

Judy had moved from her initial seat because the two Red squirrels who were sitting besides her had started squeaking and squawking at each in high-pitched German. The only other available seat was across the aisle from Nicholas. So, despite being fairly wary of the fact that her train neighbor was a fox, and after rolling her eyes at the words of caution her parents distending in and out of her mind, she tossed her large travel bag atop the aisle seat and plopped down next to the window, then peered out across the lush plains.

About 30 minutes later, an old aged grandmotherly rabbit, who was idling down the aisle, spotted Judy, approached her with a large but feeble smile, and started talking to her in rapid Spanish.

“Oh, umm…Yo no hablo…” Judy murmured in heavily off-putting syllables.

But the other rabbit continued barraging her with what Judy suspected to be small talk.

Unable to hear or watch the young rabbit fluster about any further, Nick leaned over and said to the elder rabbit, with smooth articulation, “Creo que ella no habla español. ¿Quieren hablar conmigo?”

The aged rabbit turned and jolted at the sight of him. Then she whispered, “No, no,” and hobbled away, mumbling something that Nick guessed was about the impertinence of foxes then he shifted back into his chair. 

Judy sighed with utter relief when the door to the next car slid closed behind the other rabbit.

“Thank you so much,” she chuckled to him. “You really saved me. I had no idea what she was saying!”

Nick was about to write something down in his journal when he glanced back at the rabbit, who had then switched places with her bag, having skidded over to the seat closer to the aisle – and closer to him.

“But you’re assuming I know what _you_ ’re saying?” he quipped, closing his journal over his pen.

Judy smiled shyly, “ _Well_ , I caught a glimpse of the book you were reading earlier.” She pointed to the strewn novel by his knapsack. “It was in English so…yeah, I just assumed.”

“Huh,” he uttered as he scanned the rabbit, trying to get a read on her.

“It’s _That Time,_ right? The one by Jesse Wallaby?”

As she stared at him with bright and eager purple eyes, in his mind, Nick deduced that she could not be more than twenty or so years old and based on her bright pink shirt and yoga pants, was _definitely_ a tourist.

Also, she was cute.

Nick smirked and shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a bit too romantic for me but I figured that I should see what all the hype is about.” She giggled again in response. Nick silently winced, somewhat peeved at himself for finding her laughter adorable too.

“I thought it was a bit over-rated too, honestly,” she chirped. “But I did like the dialogue. Really snappy.”

Then, the fox got an idea. He scooted over, reclined against the arm rest, to lean over the aisle, and whispered to her, “I’m actually about to grab some lunch in the lounge car. Wanna join me?” He shoved a thumb in the direction of the car behind them.

“Sure,” Judy nodded, leaping off her seat.

As they shuffled through the thin hallways and onto the lounge car, Judy asked, “So how do you speak such good English?”

“I was born and raised in Zootopia. Mom still lives there.”

They found an empty table and Judy turned to him and pointed to it, waiting for confirmation. He nodded and they slide into the wooden seats across each other. “What about you? Why do _you_ speak such good English?” Nick asked facetiously.

“Well, I’m from Zootopia too. Well, from nearby, at least, but yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” she replied, innocently, never being taken for a non-English speaker before.

The fox smiled smugly. “I was just kidding, Carrots. And, of course, you can only speak English, right?”

Finally understanding the libel, she grimaced but it easily morphed into a humored smile, “Oh, ok, I get it now,” she warbled wryly back. “Because I’m the dumb, crude country girl from Bunny Burrow who can’t speak any other language and has no culture, right?”

“I actually did assume you came from some little carrot-choked podunk.”

“Uh, _no_. Podunk is in Deer Brook County,” she reprimanded drolly.

“Oh, _my_ apologies,” he sneered, “So what brings Miss Bunny Burrow so far from home?”

She rolled her eyes and then stated, with conjured regality, “I decided to travel for once in my life. And my parents have family around the Mediterranean. So I’m planning on spending the night in Zoccolo, then taking a train from there to Pelage and then to Telara…ugh, I always get this wrong, to Telaranya?”

“Teleraña. It means the web.”

“Why is it called that?”

“Well, the peninsula literally looks like a spider web. So…”

“Ha, and Zoccolo means hoof, right?”

“Because _this_ peninsula looks like a boot.”

“You would think mammals have evolved enough were we could think of better names for peninsulas, right?”

“You evolved enough to be willing to have lunch with a stranger – and with a _fox_ , no less.”

“Yeah, hmm, well, this trip is all about new experiences for me, so I decided to take the risk.”

“Plus I saved your life from that violent elderly bunny. Common courtesy dictates that you at least owe me coffee.”

Judy scoffed out an indignant laugh. “Yes, she was veritably feral. Thank goodness you swooped in to save me,” she jeered. “Oh, my hero.”

He chuckled, and then put out his paw over the table for her to shake. “I’ll let you call me Nick instead, Carrots.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” she said drolly as she took his paw. “And you can call me Judy. _Not_ Carrots.”

* * *

They ordered coffee and sandwiches.

Judy did end up paying for Nick’s coffee after he roped her into betting on a quick coin toss.

However, just as he offered to make it up to her by buying something for dinner, the conductor announced that the train was pulling into Zoccolo International Station in multiple languages over the PA.

Judy huffed, disappointment clearly across her face.

“Sad that you won’t get a free meal?” he joked.

She glared daggers at him. “ _No_.” Then she softened. I just…I just didn’t think we’d get here so soon.”

“Miss me already?”

She huffed again, now out of derision. “Sure. But I guess…yeah. I had a good time. More so than I would have being on a train by my lonesome. The views are a lot less spectacular than the train ride into Zootopia.”

“Wait until you get into the city. Zoccolo has quite a bit to offer,” Nick commented.

“I’ll take your word for it. Gosh, I can’t wait,” Judy gleefully chirped while looking out the window. Then she returned to look at Nick, now with another solemn expression. “You said you were going further up to get to Säugerstadt, right?”

“Yeah, I catch a flight there tomorrow.” he gingerly returned .

“Well, I hope you have a safe flight. I’ll look for your articles when I get back home.”

“Thanks, gotta make some cash, right?” Nick grinned warmly.

She chuckled. “I’ll ask all 275 of my siblings to buy some too. You’ll be a rich fox by the time you get back to your mom.”

“Looking forward to it.”

So Judy collected her things, saluted Nick goodbye and clambered out of the car and off the train. With each step Judy took away from the lounge car, she felt her soul sadden inch by inch.

When her paws reach the platform, her whole body heaved with a sigh.

Then, “Wow, did you like my company that much?” Nick’s voice laughed from beside her.

She jumped and looked up to see a complacent Nick, standing next to her on the concrete of the station platform, with his knapsack slung over his shoulder, pretending not to know why she was so surprised.

“What…what are you doing here?”

“Well,” he began, “As soon as you left the lounge car, I realized that I wanted to keep talking to you and that, ugh," he bristled his fur as he begrudgingly said, “We made some kind of uh, connection. You know?”

“Wow, did you like my company that much?” she repeated with a sassy smile.

“Yeah, right, well,” he quickly dismissed, “I figured you might need a guide in Zoccolo and in return, you can come up with me to Säugerstadt tomorrow and then go back to your awful itinerary. You have a MediTe-Rail pass, right? Shouldn’t matter what train you get on.”

“Yeah, I do. But what do you mean by _awful_ itinerary? And I can’t just…I have a hostel room for tonight.”

“Then sell your spot.”

“How? I can’t…this is ridiculous. Nick you’re going to miss your train.”

“Carrots,” he drolly scolded. “There are several things you should keep in mind.” He lifted a single claw. “One, my flight isn’t until another 36 hours. Two, Säugerstadt is closer to Pelage than here. Three, you’d get to sightsee in that city too. Four, we could use your hostel money to enjoy a full night in the beautiful Zoccolo instead of you spending it in some dingy hostel room because you don’t know where to go, and Five, you get to spend more time with me.”

Then Judy chimed in, “Six, you’re going to _Miss_. _Your_. _Train_. And Seven, you might be an axe murderer and kill me when I just start to trust you and my gruesome death will make international headlines, and prove that my parents were right all along about how travelling the world alone would get me killed.”

Nick made a face. “Oh, please you know it would definitely be more fun for you if I helped you get around.”

“Or more fun for _you_.”

“Whatever. And if I turn out to be some kind of psycho, savage fox, which I know you obviously still suspect me of being, you can run away to your hostel or hop on the next train to Pelage. No pun intended.”

“I do not suspect you of…”

“Carrots, you have a can of fox repellant.”

Judy’s face blanched in horror. “Oh geez, my parents wouldn’t let me leave home unless I brought one of their stupid fox-proof things with me.” She started frenetically digging through her bag to rid the awful can of internalized pigeonholing. “I am so sorry you saw that. I just-,”

“Don’t worry, I assumed that if you were actually going to use it, you wouldn’t have so eagerly wanted to talk to me in the first place,” he smirked.

She was about to retort when the intercom announced that all passengers must board.

“Nick!” Judy nearly shouted, pleading him to return to the train with her eyes.

He exhaled, “Alright, alright. Think of it like this. Jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married to this sweet, old, man-rabbit with a beer gut.”

Judy scoffed, but did instantly envision a middle-aged version of herself sitting on a rocking chair on a nondescript porch with a rabbit that looked like a carbon-copy of her father, sitting besides her as the sun sets behind them.

Nick continued, “Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those other mammals you've met in your life, and what MIGHT have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right?”

Judy thinned her gaze towards him in suspicion.

“Well,” the fox said with velvety assertion, “I'm one of those guys. So think of this as time travel, from then, to now, to find out what you're missing out on. You know, if you think about it, what this really could be is a gigantic favor to both you and your future husband, to find out that you're not missing out on anything. I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and you made the right choice, and you're really happy. And that Säugerstadt is not worth visiting a second time. But at least, then, you would know because you _experienced_ it. And your trip is all about new experiences, no?”

Judy bit her lower lip with her little buckteeth as she contemplated for a moment, unable to hide the smile eventually developing over her cheeks. Then she looked up at Nick and dryly commented, “We should probably get a locker for all my stuff so that they survive even if **_I_** ’m murdered.”

* * *

Within the hour, they had stuffed their extra things in a locker, sold Judy’s hostel reservation to another travelling college student, jumped onto a boat tour of the city canals and were currently deciding how to split their time.

“I’m thinking two 14-hour shifts and with the leftover seven or eight hours dedicated to the train ride to Säugerstadt and – what I anticipate to be - much needed shut-eye,” Nick explained as he scribbled a bunch of clock hours on his notebook with lines and arrows in between them.

“How long is the train ride?”

“About 6 hours.”

“Gosh, and it would have been even further to Pelage, huh?”

“At _least_ thirteen.”

“Geez. I did have an awful itinerary.”

“Yes, you did. But now good ol’ Nick Wilde remedied all of that.”

“Sure,” she droned. “But can good ol’ Nick remedy how I would get from Säugerstadt to Pelage?”

“Of course I can. Who do you think I am? We have two options. I can help you get on a bus – which make the trip a lot shorter – and send you off right before I catch my flight. Or, if you wanted to stay the night at Säugerstadt I could set you up in the hotel room that my publisher set aside for me tonight. Which I’m obviously not going to use.”

“Sweet cheese and crackers, I really cannot believe you,” Judy grumbled. “Will that be okay?”

“Totally, Finnick is used to my last-minute ‘ _disasters’_ even if he does makes it known how much it bothers him”

“So am _I_ a ‘disaster’?”

“In a way,” Nick laughed while looking off over the waters, avoiding her gaze. “You **_might_** just have the same effect on me as a monsoon would have on a house.”

“Aw, that is the sweetest, most disturbing thing anyone has ever said to me,” Judy sang teasingly and sidled right up next to him on their seat so that their fur touched just ever so slightly.

Nick sighed, because that one inconsequential action confirmed that it was true.

Eventually, as the night fluttered by with each beat and moment just as fantasy-driven or just as banter-filled as the previous, Judy and Nick talked and talked and talked as they traversed through the city. They talked about what made them mad, what made them enthralled, what made them excited, and what made them confused.

While sitting at a table outside of a café nearby the docks, with a near perfect view of the sunset, Judy was in the middle of a long exposition on her thoughts on God. Nick, for some strange reason unknown to himself, was hanging on every word, genuinely invested in every single utterance that left her lips.

Judy articulated, “My folks were super religious and while to some degree, I get it. But there are a lot of things that they always just get wrong. I mean, the fact that they shoved a can of fox repellant in my stuff this day and age is just perfect evidence of how religion can be pure fear mongering. And that’s not what it ought to be, right? When I started attending school, and you know, started trying to figure things out for myself, I knew I just couldn’t completely disregard the possibility in something greater than myself. So I eventually got to a point where I feel like if there's any kind of God, it wouldn't be in any of us. Not you, or me...but just this little space in between.” She pointed to the little space in between their shoulders.

Nick hummed and nodded slightly.

“I mean,” she continued, “I obviously believe in some sort of supernatural…because I really do think there is magic in the world. You know how you were talking about your experience in Asia? Being around the perfect symmetry of that bamboo forest.”

“Yeah…”

“Didn’t you think that was magical?”

Nick tilted his head. “Maybe.”

But Judy went on, “If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in **_humility_** – you know? In realizing where you actually do stand in the world when you stare into a glen of bamboo trees or look at the sun setting,” she gestured to the half-hidden sun, “Or when you try to understand someone, and love them and you willingly give up part of yourself to share in that relationship. And,” she huffed. “I know. It‘s almost impossible to actually see something like that succeeding, but...who cares? I feel like the act of actually trying anything and even failing is a beautiful thing in and of itself.”

She found Nick staring at her with a gaze that felt like a warm fire. “What?” she asked him, slightly terrified of his demeanor.

Then, he whispered, “Can I kiss you?”

Judy blinked a few times and felt herself fold into her shoulders. “There are other mammals here.” She realized that she didn’t say no.

He did too. “Mediterranean mammals are pretty liberal.”

“I…”

“Honestly, Carrots, if we go somewhere private, I’m going to get carried away,” he breathed into her ear.

Judy turned tomato red. “Oh my god…Nick.”

“And there’s a sunset, a beautiful view of the sea. And we have…what did you call it? This little space in between?” He pointed to the diminishing inch of air between their bodies. “It’s kinda the perfect place, you know?”

Judy just burned and burned under the light of the disappearing sun and the fire of Nick’s entire person. Then she nodded.

And he gently pecked her on her ready, twitching lips.

* * *

On the train to Säugerstadt, Judy could not sleep. Her fox companion, on the other hand, had fell into a deep slumber almost instantly when they boarded their 5:00 AM train, missing the sunrise from their view of the plains. She wasn’t sure why she could not sleep or figure out what exactly she was feeling, but after noticing that her foot was thumping incessantly against the edge of her seat, she realized she was worrying.

She gazed up to peer up at Nick’s resting face as he flattened himself against the window, the red of his fur glistening whenever a light rushed past. Admiration and affection bubbled within her, despite herself, as she took a mental photograph of his face. Nick Wilde was definitely a handsome mammal.

In the darkened car, she reached up to deftly stroke his fur. His ear twitched, which made her smile. Then, at that moment, she knew what she was worrying about – the overflowing fondness she developed for him in those few hours. And what might happen to that when they part ways, maybe forever.

And if she had any ulterior motives for the time they had left.

Judy began to blush furiously at the thought and instantly returned to her seat.

With certain medical advances and with the basic fundamentals of intercourse being standard across mammalian species, inter-species relationships were not unheard of. Uncommon, but not unheard of.

“But he’s a fox,” she muttered to herself.

* * *

She tried putting it out of her mind to enjoy Säugerstadt and its rich culture. But it was hard to look at Renaissance paintings of naked mammals without thinking of the possibilities.

Then, after several gruesome hours, with wine in their systems, and the night sky descending, while they were walking paw-in-paw about a park they happened upon, she swiveled towards him and shouted at him in a whisper, “Do you want to sleep with me?”

Nick just stared at her. Blankly, then he narrowed his gaze, as if he were confused. “Is that a proposition or are you asking me if I want to….”

“It is _not_ a proposition. And I guess I’m asking if you – at any moment of our time together.” She let go of his paw. “…Have thought about wanting to sleep with me?”

His shoulders heaved, just slightly and he turned about and kept walking. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it.”

“When?” she asked insistently as she fought against her bodily reaction to blush, and bounded besides him to keep up.

He smirked at her. “You don’t want to know.”

“Gross.”

“Hey, you were the one that asked in the first place.”

“I just-.” She stopped and Nick stopped too, since Judy had gripped the edge of his green t-shirt. “I just don’t want this whole thing to have been a ploy to get in my pants.”

“Wow…” Nick scoffed, but with hurt still evident in his eyes. “Do you really think that little of me?”

“That’s the thing, Nick. I don’t.” She peered up at him with her large worry-filled lavender eyes. “I think the world of you and it scares me.”

“So do you want to sleep with _me_?” he asked tensely.

“I don’t know…but I guess, at this point, I don’t think I want to sleep with you.”

Nick sighed, then took Judy’s paw, lowered himself to her level, with his free paw on his knee. He gazed firmly at her and said, “Judy, I would never force you to do anything you don’t want. I know I’m a fox. But trust me on that.”

She smiled back, in utter relief. Then tiptoed up to peck him on the cheek. “Thank you, Nick.”

“Well,” he exhaled. “It would make quite a story, wouldn’t it? You losing your virginity in some random park in Säugerstadt to a fox.”

Judy frowned and seethed, “I’m not a virgin.”

“…” Nick blinked. “What?”

“I’m not a virgin, Nick.”

“Huh…” the fox muttered, his face briefly displaying shock.

“What? Did I shatter your naïve country girl projection of me?”

“Ha, sure…but I just….I don’t know. You seem like the kind of girl who would be super particular about who she would take to bed. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s good to have standards.” He began ambling through the grass again. “Honestly, I was hoping you didn’t meet anyone who met them just yet.”

“Wow…ok. I mean, you’re not, right? A virgin?”

“Why do you assume that?”

“You have this vibe…I don’t know.”

“Foxes are usually a one-mate kind of mammal,” he muttered harshly, again without looking at her.

Judy wanted to punch herself. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I just keep doing this and gah, I don’t…I

Then Nick chuckled. “I’m messing with you.”

“Oh my GOD, I hate you.”

“But foxes are actually pretty monogamous. That’s the one thing that doesn’t really match up with all the assumptions other mammals make about us. You know, because we’re all sneaky and sly, everyone assume that we’re all sneaky and sly lovers. Obviously, there are the occasional dipshits that break that status quo but…But every time I was with someone, it was always just her.”

“That…is super romantic but I can’t help but feel like you’re pulling that out of your ass and that you do it every time you’re with a girl.”

“Well, I do rehearse it every night in front of the mirror.”

“It is very well articulated.”

“Oh, why thank you.” Then, after a moment, Nick stopped and awkwardly shifted, which made Judy grimace, albeit being humored. Then he muttered, “So who was your first?”

She laughed then pulled him to a grassy knoll, beneath a tree and made him sit next to her. Then she said, after a sigh, “He was a classmate from high school. But he said I was too ambitious so he left me for one of my cousins who only ever wanted to get married and have seven hundred kits.”

“What a cockroach.”

“I know right? Plus, he wasn’t that good. I just never liked it. And sure, I’ve only done it twice but it’s like. Ugh, I don’t know.”

“Probably because you never made love. You just f*cked each other.”

Judy glanced up at him suspiciously. “You’re actually quite the romantic, aren't you?”

“Shut up.”

“So has the great Nicholas Wilde ever made love?” Judy asked slyly. 

Nick frowned. “Maybe…I…"

“God, no, actually, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know."

“Jealous?”

“Ugh! You’re insufferable. Yes, maybe. Maybe I am jealous. Geez, I can’t believe I’m having a fling with a fox and was actually seriously considering taking it further.”

“There has been research that shows that all you need is three hours and the right set of questions to fall in love,” Nick commented.

After a beat, Judy asked, “Did you?”

“Hmmm?”

“Fall in love with me?”

He made some guttural noise then collapsed onto her, nuzzling into her shoulder, which made her gasp silently. He whispered, “Honestly, I think I fell in love with you when you started stuttering in your awful Spanish."

“Oh my gosh,” Judy half-screamed as she buried her blushing face in her paws.

“I don’t think I would’ve helped you out, otherwise. Pretty awful of me, huh?”

“No kidding,” Judy sneered.

He scoffed. “Then what about you? When did you fall for me?”

“Why are you assuming I fell for you?” Judy retorted.

Nick frowned, then leaned in, put his muzzle right to her large ear and breathed, “Because you wouldn’t be here with me right now, holding my paw, and letting me whisper in your ear.”

Judy swerved away from him, blinking rapidly with a warming chill bristling down her shoulders. Nick just smiled and smiled, satisfied with the confirmation of his effect on her.

“I think it kinda came in spurts,” she finally whispered out. And forced out a laugh, “Or, I don’t know, percentages?”

“Explain.”

“Well, let’s say that my falling in love would be a perfect 100 percent. Kay? Which I am not, by the way.”

“Sure,” he quipped, obviously not believing her.

“Then, let’s say, _hypothetically_ , that the first ten percent was you telling off the old rabbit – and argh, you did it so smoothly and I honestly thought your voice was super sexy and just the fact that you spoke such great Spanish really impressed me and…”

“You think my voice is _sexy_?”

“…”

Then he asserted elatedly, “You think my voice is sexy.”

“I…I am going to have to murder you and then kill myself,” Judy whined into his shoulder as she punched him in the arm.

After laughing, Nick said, “If it makes you feel any better, I think your ambition is sexy.”

She perked up from her moping. “Really?”

He responded, in a purposefully suggestive voice, “Really.”

She took a hold of his muzzle with both paws and kissed him. “Dammit, I do find your voice sexy.”

“Good,” he muttered as he placed his paw behind her neck and brought her lips back to his.

In the dark of eventide, illuminated by a sole streetlamp nearly a block away, with the cool grass beneath them, Nick kissed Judy. Then Judy kissed Nick. Again, then again.

“Open your mouth,” Nick ordered as he pulled her onto her lap. She whimpered but complied, allowing his tongue to caress her own. His hand traveled down from her neck to the small of her back and pulled her in, making that inch of space in between nearly nonexistent.

Judy gasped out a lovely death inducing mewl, pushing him away, which only egged him on. He instantly tugged her back to him and kissed her fervently, as if hungry for the taste of her lips and affection.

“ _Nick_ ,” she moaned as he began nipping at her neck.

“God. You’re making this really difficult, Judy,” he murmured breathily, then sighed. Then he suddenly released her and fell backwards into the grass.

“I still don’t know if I want to sleep with you, Nick,” she muttered and leaned forward until her head rested against his beating heart.

He groaned but still said, “That’s fair. But if we keep making out like this, it’s going to be really hard.”

“Pun intended?”

“Actually no, but-.” He hoisted himself and Judy back up and smiled mischievously at her. “That totally works and that is probably the dirtiest thing I have ever heard you say, Ms. Judy Hopps.”

“What can I say? I’m just full of surprises.”

He kissed her.

She giggled when they parted. And he kissed her again.

Then again.

And again.

And Judy felt her soul and reasoning lift out of her body as he showered her with warm touches of affection. And it lingered there, the burning remnants of where he outpoured his warmth upon her skin, even after they bitterly parted ways at the Säugerstadt Airport, even after she finished the rest of her tour around the Mediterranean, and even after she safely arrived home nearly a week after her encounter with Nick Wilde.

* * *

Three months had passed since those memorable 36 hours when Nick bounded up the stairs to his childhood home to find his mother already opening the door before he even reached to knock it.

“Hey, mum,” he said with a warm smile.

“Ah, the prodigal son has returned,” his mother stated. “How much laundry this time?”

The smile disappeared. “Mom…” he groaned.

She eventually let him in when he gave her an obligatory kiss on the cheek. He unloaded his knapsack unto the living room floor and performed a trust-fall into his mother’s plush couch.

“You’re back earlier than usual,” his mother commented as she swiped up his knapsack and threw it on the couch next to him. 

“I guess?”

“Nico, you mentioned that you met someone a few months ago, right?”

“Did I?”

“You’re being evasive again.”

“Mom, you’re being _in_ vasive again,” Nick whined.

“Was she cute?”

“Immensely. But still, you need to-,”

“You thought I was _immensely_ cute?”

Nick jolted up and nearly off the couch, then swerved around to see Judy casually striding into the living room with a tray of three glasses of lemonade.

Nick’s mind crashed like a CPU in water. “What…what are you doing here?”

“Well,” Judy warbled as she set the tray down on the coffee table. “As soon as you left me at the bus stop at the airport, I realized that I wanted to keep talking to you and that, we made some kind of _connection_. You know?”

Nick cringed at the phrase, regretting so much in that moment. But he powered through and snidely commented, “So you stalked me?”

Judy sucked her teeth. “I stalked your mother. I found her in the Yellow Pages and we started chatting.”

“And we met up for dinner last week,” Margaret added, sitting on the armchair across from them and taking a glass of lemonade for herself. “Isn’t that the reason you came back so soon? I was telling Judy how you usually come home during the winter.” She took a sip. 

“What…I,” he whisked his head back and forth between the smug faces of his mother and his bunny. “No. I… Am I not allowed to visit my mother in the fall?”

“I’m just saying that I thought it couldn’t be a coincidence that my wanderlust-filled son mentioned he would be coming back the same weekend that the lovely Judy here was going to start her classes.”

“Wow, I cannot believe that you’re both ganging up on me like this.” Nick rubbed his temples. “I feel so attacked right now. I just wanted to come home and eat food and do laundry.”

“Sure,” Judy quipped, obviously not believing him. “You really did fall for me, huh?”

“Says the rabbit who stalked my mother and entered my home.”

“Probably didn’t help that you two slept together,” Margaret Wilde adds flatly then takes another sip of her lemonade.

A beat.

“Did you tell her?!”

“No, I…did _you_ tell her!?”


End file.
